Personal Loss
by hyacinthian
Summary: When Lucy gets in danger, it comes as a shock that Dr. Carter would actually save her life. Can she come to terms with the fact that he may be looking for more than friendship? [Carcy]
1. Flames of Hellor a Hospital

Lucy sat there, crouched in the corner of the bathroom stall, crying. She lay still for a second, unlocked the lock on the stall door, and walked out to find half of the nurses standing there, with their arms crossed.  
  
"We were wondering when you'd get out," Carol spoke, smiling. "Tissue?"  
  
Lucy tried to laugh a bit as she took the tissue from Carol's hand. Trying to, however, just made her cry more. The nurses came around, encircled her, and gave her a giant hug. They all looked so sympathetic.  
  
"What's wrong, Lucy?" asked Lydia.  
  
"Nothing," she sniffed.  
  
"Whatever, but you know, it's not nice to lie to the nurses," clucked Haleh.  
  
They all shuffled out of the bathroom as Lucy brought the tissue up to her nose. She blew her nose before tossing the tissue into the trash can. She sniffed and glanced in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was a flourishing pink.  
  
She held her stethoscope in her hand before setting it down on the sink. She turned the cold water faucet and splashed some of the water onto her face. Some loose strands of blonde hair got a bit damp, but that was okay. She grabbed her stethoscope and hung it loosely on her shoulders. She'd have to talk to Dr. Greene.  
  
"Lucy. I've been looking for you," stated Carter, sighs of relief obvious in his tone. "I thought you were going to check on your patient in Exam 2."  
  
"Right! I knew that!" she cried suddenly, before thudding her head against the nearest table. "I'm an idiot!"  
  
"No you're not," he replied. "You are my superior Med. Student."  
  
"Stop praising me, Dr. Carter. You're scaring me. Plus, that's not very much praise considering I'm your only Med. Student," she sighed, unhappily.  
  
She grabbed her clipboard and she walked off down the hallway. "Check on your patient before checking in with me!" he yelled, taking the gesture she gave as a signal she understood.  
  
Lucy walked down the hallway. "Geez, do hospitals always smell this bad? I never noticed that before," she remarked, aloud, sniffing the air.  
  
"Well, I'm glad you've noticed that hospitals have a strange", Elizabeth paused, searching her mind for the right word to match the sarcastic tone. "Aroma."  
  
"I wouldn't exactly call it an aroma. It's not exactly the nicest scent in the world," Lucy answered, chuckling.  
  
"Wow. You laughed. I didn't think you'd laugh at all today. Nice job, Liz!" cried Carol, excitedly.  
  
"Liz?" Elizabeth repeated. "Since when do you call me Liz?"  
  
"You don't like the name?" Carol asked, sounding deeply hurt.  
  
"Um, it's not that. I was just taken aback by the sincerity of it!" she replied quickly. "I have a trauma with Robert. So, if you'll excuse me."  
  
"I have to check on a patient in Exam 2. See you, guys," Lucy greeted, walking off.  
  
As the "good-byes" chorused in from the nurses, Lucy smiled lightly before continuing to walk. As she walked, she accidentally careened into a gurney, causing her hip to have quite a large cut on it. She groaned in pain.  
  
"I'll suture that for you. C'mere," replied a voice.  
  
"Thanks, whoever you are," she murmured to herself.  
  
"Tsk, such a shame that you forgot your teacher's name," he contradicted.  
  
"Dr. Carter?!" she yelled, in surprise, jerking with a sudden movement. "Ow."  
  
"Don't move," he ordered.  
  
She sat with her back straight, not making a move, being as still as a statue. Carter eyed her up and down. She didn't appear to be uncomfortable, or breathing, or blinking. Had this girl been a gargoyle before or what?  
  
"Lucy, you know, you can breathe and blink, just warn me before you make sudden movements, okay?"  
  
She heaved a long breath. She had been holding in that breath for a while now, apparently and she slouched, which apparently was a comfortable position. He finished doing her sutures and she got up and started to walk again. "Thanks, Dr. Carter!" she called as she walked off.  
  
He nodded quickly and walked out. She walked into the exam room and slid the curtain to shield the room off. He glanced around nervously. "Are you a doctor?" he asked, unsurely.  
  
"I'm your doctor today. Now, what's the problem?" she asked, professionally.  
  
"The problem is that I'm having chest pains, Doctor," he enunciated the label as it were a poisonous word.  
  
"Haleh, get a chest film for me, would you?" she asked.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"A chest film?" he asked, inquisitively.  
  
"It's an X-ray of your chest so we can see what's going on," she explained, slowly.  
  
"Oh. Doctor, come with me a second," he commanded.  
  
She tried to protest, but he had grasped her arm so fiercely that she humored him and started to walk with him. He walked to a nearby closet and he walked her in. Suddenly, he let go of her arm and he raced around and slammed and locked the door. He gave a quick cackle.  
  
He dug through his jean pocket and found a book of matches. He slowly removed one and he struck it against the wooden door and he threw it down by the door. The door soon caught fire as Lucy frantically tried to claw her way out. There wasn't even a window in this closet! He laughed piteously. "I'm so sorry, Miss Knight, but I can't have you alive."  
  
The fire lit all the other junk in the room and Lucy just sat herself down in the corner and repeated a prayer over and over again, trying to console herself to realize that her death, hopefully, would not be a lasting and painful one. The fire had caught on to other parts of the room, however, and soon the door leading to the hallway was caught on fire too. By then, the patient had already been discharged.  
  
"FIRE!" shrieked a patient, panicking. Shrieks and screams erupted all around her and soon, there was a violent stampede toward the exits. Soon, the fire had raged to the main section of the hospital, the admin desk. As Kerry tried to calmly evacuate the patients, some of the doctors nearly got run over.  
  
"Everyone stay here!" Kerry screamed. "We have to count the number of people who are here to see if we have all of you!"  
  
"It doesn't matter! Just let us leave!" yelled a patient.  
  
"NO!" Kerry retorted. "It does matter. It makes a difference whether you, yourself, live or die. But you don't care about anyone else! Well, doctors do! Why do you think we chose a career of medicine?!"  
  
The patient bit his lip nervously. He placed his hands down at his sides and he heaved a long sigh. "Fine," he mumbled.  
  
"Hey! Abby! You seen Lucy?" cried Kerry. "She's the only one on my list who's missing!"  
  
"Um, I think her patient was discharged. She was in Exam 2, last I heard," answered Abby, scratching her head thoughtfully.  
  
"Thanks!" Kerry gratifyingly replied. "Where the hell could she be?!"  
  
"I heard someone yell for help inside the supply closet but the door was locked shut and I didn't know how to unlock it!" yelled a patient.  
  
"Thanks! That's a lot of help!" yelled Carter, removing his stethoscope and lab coat and handing them to Kerry. "Take those if I don't return."  
  
"You sound like Robin Hood, Carter. Return? Return from where?" she asked, cocking her one eyebrow up inquisitively.  
  
"I'm going inside to get her," he answered, tying his shoelaces extra tight.  
  
"No you're not," she argued.  
  
He was already walking off toward the hospital. He entered through the sliding Emergency Room doors and noticed that the admit desk was enveloped by a wall of smoke. He pushed open the door and all this heated air met his cool face. His eyes disliked the smoke, however, and began to water. He rubbed his eyes, irritably, and he continued on.  
  
"Exam 2!" he repetitively yelled to himself.  
  
He finally reached Exam Room 2, after a lot of searching throughout all the smoke. The wall of clouds felt like someone was constricting his air passages. He felt that the door was warm and he kicked it instead of opening it with his hand. The flames spouted up and burned part of his leg. Groaning in pain, he leaped through the flames heroically. He came across the supply closet the patient had mentioned earlier. He tried to open the door but the doorknob was scalding hot and it was locked. He backed up a few inches and he kicked at the lock. He tried the doorknob again, though it was scalding hot, it still didn't open. Grunting in frustration, he kicked at it again. He tried the scalding doorknob again. It still didn't open. He kept kicking at the lock and the door soon gave way. He walked quickly and he found Lucy huddled in a corner. He placed his two fingers on her wrist. She had a weak pulse, but had stopped breathing. He performed CPR and got her breathing again. He picked her up in his arms and leaped over the flames that had burned higher now that it had another piece of flammable material to feed on. The entrance that he had used before had been blocked off by a smoldering section of debris and flame.  
  
"There's a window," he pondered. He shirked the thought away but as he started to cough heavily, it suddenly came to him that it was his only and last chance. He tore some fabric from the window curtain, which had not burned yet, and wrapped it around his hand and punched his hand through the glass. He lowered Lucy slowly down before cutting his arms on the jagged glass. He leaped from the window and landed on the ground with a thud.  
  
"Carter!" cried Carol, worriedly.  
  
"Oh my God! He has Lucy in his arms!" Kerry gasped out.  
  
The whole staff rushed over to find both in critical condition. Carter had third-degree and second-degree burns on his legs and his hands. He also had large gashes where the glass had cut him and his breathing was shallow. Lucy had a weak pulse and shallow breathing. They tried very hard to save them.  
  
"Dr. Corday!" cried a panicked Abby. "Carter's going into v-fib!"  
  
"Oh, Lord!" she mumbled to herself. "No! We're not going to lose a great doctor!" 


	2. Visiting Hours

Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but her throat felt like the Sahara Desert. She tried to move but she felt constrained. She tried to open her eyes but they felt sealed shut. She heard a voice.  
  
"Asystole. He's Asystole," muttered a nurse.  
  
"No, he's not! Charge to 300! CLEAR!" yelled Elizabeth, in anguish and frustration.  
  
"He's got a steady heartbeat," sighed Kerry, with relief.  
  
"Thank God," murmured Carol.  
  
"Carter?" rasped Lucy.  
  
"Lucy?!" cried Carol in surprise. "You need some water?"  
  
Finding that it was too difficult to speak, she gave a deft nod. Carol ran off and returned with a glass of water. Lucy gulped it down eagerly and found her throat cooperating.  
  
"Thank you," she spoke, before she felt a lump in her throat. "Carter."  
  
"C'mon honey. It'll be okay. He'll be okay," she consoled, giving her a hug.  
  
"He saved me," she whispered, the tears dripping onto her cheeks. "He risked his life to save me."  
  
"You remember?" asked Carol, softly.  
  
"Yes, I do. Can you get this IV out of me? I want to get up. Walk around. Go home. Eat something besides hospital food," she said.  
  
Carol removed the IV and let Lucy change back into her normal clothing. Lucy placed her stethoscope on and walked around. She walked out of the hospital, her head hung low.  
  
"Carol! Where's Lucy?!" yelled Kerry, angrily.  
  
"I discharged her," Carol muttered.  
  
"You what?!" Kerry fumed.  
  
"Hey! She wanted to be discharged, I discharged her!" she shot back.  
  
Kerry walked off, slamming the door as she went. Carol sighed unhappily and sat down on a chair. She sat there, her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. Elizabeth walked over to Carol and knelt down to her level.  
  
"Carter's stabilized. Could you tell Lucy?" Elizabeth asked.  
  
"Sure."  
  
Elizabeth forced a weak smile before walking out of the trauma room. Carol knew exactly where she was heading. She was heading there, too. She walked slowly to the Doctor's Lounge. She needed a cup of coffee, bad. She walked into the Lounge.  
  
"Hey, Carol," whispered Lucy, whimpering.  
  
"Lucy?! What are you still doing here?" Carol asked, surprised.  
  
"I walked out of the hospital and I just felt so helpless", she paused, holding back the tears. "I came back here."  
  
"Carter's stabilized, you know," remarked Elizabeth, walking in.  
  
"Hey, Lucy?" started Carol.  
  
"Hmm?" Lucy murmured, grasping a tissue in her quivering hands.  
  
"Are you sure you want to be here?" Carol asked.  
  
"I'm fine!" she snapped.  
  
"CAROL! Elizabeth! Come here, NOW!" Kerry ordered.  
  
Carol and Elizabeth both muttered quick apologies for having to leave so soon before racing out the door. Lucy sighed in frustration and laid down on the firm sofa. She closed her eyes and let the tears flow and before she could stop it, she was asleep.  
  
~*Flashback to Chapter 1*~  
  
"Lucy!" Dave cried, running after her.  
  
"Hmm?" she smiled, grinning at him. They had been dating for quite some time and she was quite happy.  
  
"Don't forget this," he replied, handing her the stethoscope she dropped. She blushed a deep shade of red.  
  
"Thanks. Dr. Carter would've killed me," she gratifyingly remarked.  
  
He kissed her cheek and he raced off while she stood there, grinning. She walked off to her patient in Trauma 3.  
  
"Now, Mr. Taylor, you've been complaining of chest pains?" she asked, not looking up from her clipboard.  
  
"Yes," he answered.  
  
"Well, let's get a chest film and see what's going on," she replied. "Chuny."  
  
"On it, Lucy," Chuny muttered quickly before leaving.  
  
Lucy walked out of the room and walked to the hallway where she saw Dave talking with a new blonde nurse. As she walked up to him, she saw him kiss her in what appeared to be a passionate kiss. She felt the tears welling up.  
  
"You asshole!" she screamed, slapping him. She ran off and didn't even bother to pick up her stethoscope when it dropped to the ground.  
  
The blonde nurse stared straight ahead, obviously in confusion. Carter walked past and picked up the stethoscope that she had dropped. He had noticed everything and knew where she was going automatically. He held the stethoscope pressed against his palm and walked up the stairs to the roof. He saw Lucy, crouching in a corner, sobbing. He approached her.  
  
"Oh, God. Dr. Carter. I'm so embarrassed," she muttered, in between sobs.  
  
"You dropped this, Lucy," he answered, handing her the medical instrument. She took it and placed it by her side. He walked over and sat down next to her. He gave her a long hug and she cried into his shoulder.  
  
"I can't believe it! I thought he loved me," she sobbed, piteously.  
  
"It's okay, Lucy. Dave's an asshole. Forget about him. You'll be okay," he cooed, stroking back her hair.  
  
She sniffed and looked up. "I'm so sorry, Dr. Carter. I have to get back to work. Thanks for everything," she remarked.  
  
He nodded briskly and he got up as well. She wrung her stethoscope round her neck and she headed inside. He followed. She went back to Chuny for the results on Mr. Taylor's chest film and it revealed something strange.  
  
"Mr. Taylor?" Lucy began. He nodded tiredly. "I'm afraid you have acid reflux disease."  
  
"You mean, I have prolonged heartburn?! That's it?!" he cried, shocked.  
  
"Yeah," she replied, trying to stifle her laughs.  
  
He got up, ran out of the room, and slammed the door. She scribbled something on the clipboard and ran off to the bathroom. She could feel the tears forming behind her eyes again. She bit her lip trying to prolong the agony of crying in public, but it didn't work. She gave a quick sob and Haleh noticed her. They followed her to the bathroom.  
  
"Lucy!" cried Carol.  
  
Lucy's eyes opened. "Huh?" she muttered, unintelligibly.  
  
"It's me, Carol. You dozed off. Elizabeth says that you can go visit Carter now, if you want to. He's awake," she explained.  
  
She forced herself up using her elbows and sat up. She stood up and yawned. She stretched and headed out into the hallway. Dave was standing there with the same blonde nurse.  
  
"Lucy. Hi. Have you met", he started, before she interrupted him.  
  
"Fuck off."  
  
His voice caught in his throat and she continued walking toward Carter's room. She cracked the door open a bit. "Lucy," he rasped out.  
  
"Hi, Dr. Carter. How're you feeling?" she asked, sitting down beside him.  
  
"Okay. I'm glad to see you're okay," he whispered.  
  
"You risked your life for me," she replied, feeling the familiar lump in her throat. She gave him a hug. "Thanks."  
  
"Lucy, you got to let Carter rest now. You can talk to him again tomorrow. Visiting hours are over," Kerry muttered.  
  
"Yeah. See you, Dr. Carter."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Lucy walked out the door and headed toward her car. She got in her car and started the engine and started to drive off. Back at the hospital, Carter was going into v-fib once more. 


	3. A Rejoiced ReturnIn The Beginning

Bring. Bring. Lucy sighed in disgust. She reached out and flimsily groped around mindlessly for the cordless phone lying on her bedside table. She reached it, and clicked on the Power button and brought it to her ear. "Hello?" she muttered, sleepily.  
  
"Morning, sleepyhead," laughed Carol.  
  
"Uhh, go back to work. I need sleep. Anyway, what's up?" she answered, yawning.  
  
"Well, Carter's doing fine. We got him stabilized again. He's awake and he wants to talk to you right now," she teased.  
  
"No, don't put him! Hi, Carter," she greeted, grinning.  
  
"I heard your 'No, don't put him on!' before I even had a chance to say hi!" he joked. "Well, hi."  
  
She laughed a bit. "Hey. You going back to work?" she asked, trying to sound casual.  
  
"Yeah. Dragon-Lady Weaver wouldn't let me not go to work," he laughed.  
  
"Hey, you board with the Dragon-Lady!" countered Kerry, loudly.  
  
Everyone in the room laughed. Lucy laughed over the phone and she could hear him shout, "Lucy's laughing too, you guys!"  
  
"Hey!" she replied, pretending to be offended. "Thanks for tattling to the Dragon-Lady!"  
  
"Would everyone STOP referring to me, Chief-of-staff of the ER, Dr. Kerry Weaver, as the Dragon-Lady?!" she yelled, frustrated, which made everyone laugh even more.  
  
She stomped out of the room, fuming and muttering things under her breath. "Who knows? Maybe Kerry's one of those voodoo, black magic witches from the ol' South," joked Cleo. "Not that I don't appreciate my African roots, it's just cursing people and pricking straw dolls with needles doesn't seem like my cup of tea."  
  
They all chuckled at her joke. "Carter, it's", she paused, sandwiching the cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder, while rotating her alarm clock to glance at the time. "One 'o' clock in the morning! Can I please go back to sleep now?"  
  
"Sure," he relented.  
  
She yawned and clicked the phone off. "Oops! I forgot to say good-bye or good night or something," she thought. "Oh well." Her eyes slowly closed and she drifted off to sleep. Beep. Beep. Beep. God! This was annoying her so much right now! She opened her eyes lazily and grabbed the beeping pager. She pressed the button and dialed the number.  
  
"This is your morning wake up call. My name is Carol Hathaway and I am at the Cook County General Hospital. How may I serve you today? Would you like the $2.99 Denny's special?" she asked, squeaking.  
  
"Good morning, Carol. Time," she greeted.  
  
"Six 'o' clock exactly! Tsk, didn't your mother teach you to be on time?" she joked.  
  
"Urg, I'm not even sure I want to go to work now. I'm coming," she moaned, crawling out of bed, yawning.  
  
"Now, come on, sweetie. You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Be sure to make your bed and brush your teeth and wash your hands before you prepare anything," she commanded.  
  
"Since when did you go Brady Bunch on me?" Lucy asked, sandwiching the cordless phone in between her shoulder and her ear, whilst brushing her teeth.  
  
"I don't know, actually," laughed Carol. "Hang on a second?"  
  
Lucy mumbled what sounded like a sure before spitting and rinsing. Then, she wiped her mouth with a paper towel and she continued on. She applied all necessary make-up and she walked downstairs. "Hello?" she asked, not sure if the phone had disconnected.  
  
"Good morning. And where might you be, my darling med student? You are approximately", he paused, glancing at his watch, "Three minutes late. Two more minutes before Kerry and I both get on your case."  
  
"I take it that you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she mumbled.  
  
"No. Actually, I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. You have six minutes before Kerry comes out and flatly gives you the lecture", he paused and gave a rueful chuckle. "Go."  
  
She clicked the phone off as soon as she heard the dial tone. She raced off, tossing stuff out of her closet and finally chose a blue t-shirt with a pair of flare jeans. She raced down the stairs and tripped, hitting her head on the door. "Ow," she groaned, rubbing her head delicately.  
  
She continued on and raced to the kitchen, grabbed a "Chewy" granola bar out of the box, which was half-empty, and she pulled on her socks and leaped into her sneakers. She raced out the door and hopped into her car and raced off.  
  
"I'm here," she panted, running through the emergency room doors.  
  
"Three, two, one," Carter teased, counting down.  
  
"LUCY!" Kerry screamed. "You're late for the fourth time this month! Get some self-control and wake yourself up. Now, come into my office. I would like to discuss something with you!"  
  
Lucy groaned in disgust and slowly drudged over, a step being the equivalent to a centimeter, if that. "Lucy! NOW!" ordered Kerry. Lucy ran into the office where Kerry slammed the door shut.  
  
"You think she'll make it out of there alive?" asked Chuny, mid- erasing a name off of the giant board.  
  
"She has gotten out of there alive three times, so why not a fourth?" interjected Lydia, with a grin on her face.  
  
"Someone's happy and cheerful this morning. What'd you do? Steal Mary Poppin's spoonful of sugar?" Carol spat.  
  
"Oh, I see what's going on here. You woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or, rather, the wrong side of Doug's bed," taunted Haleh.  
  
"Bite me," Carol growled, walking off.  
  
"Ah. I see. Is that what you Americans do nowadays? Bite each other?" asked Elizabeth, innocently.  
  
"It's an idiom, Liz. It means, 'Go the fuck away,'. Basically," Chuny bluntly stated.  
  
"That's a way of keeping it subtle," Mark commented, walking past. "Fill the ER with profane language. Go ahead."  
  
"Hey, Mark!" yelled Lydia.  
  
"Hmm?" he asked, turning around to face her.  
  
"It's not like our patients don't fill it up with profane language already. So, we're not exactly going to get in trouble if we say the word 'fuck'. There, I said it. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck," Lydia replied, coolly.  
  
"Ah. Good-bye, strange, psychotic people I do not know," he murmured.  
  
"WE HEARD THAT!" the nurses yelled in unison.  
  
He grinned slightly and he continued walking on. He walked off into an exam room and shut the door and closed the blinds. The nurses continued chattering, when Lucy waltzed out of Kerry's "office".  
  
"Ah! She stumbles out alive again," laughed Haleh.  
  
"Don't be late again," clucked Kerry.  
  
Lucy shook her head no and she walked into the lounge. "Can I go home?" she asked.  
  
"Home? You just got here!" Kerry replied, harshly.  
  
"Can I go on a break?!" she brashly shot back.  
  
Kerry waved her hand with a reluctant kind of air and Lucy sniffed angrily and grabbed her jacket and ran out of the emergency room sliding doors. Carter was walking down the stairs and saw her cross the street to the new Starbucks.  
  
He ran out of the hospital before any of the nurses could say anything. As soon as he left though, they started gossiping. "Do you think he likes Lucy?" asked Chuny to Haleh.  
  
"Oh, I'd bet on it."  
  
Carter glanced both ways and darted across the semi-large road to the Starbucks across the street. Lucy was sitting on a green bench, which was cluttered with graffiti, and was sipping a frappucino.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Hi," she murmured.  
  
He sat down as she scooted over to the other end of the bench. "You cold?" he asked.  
  
"Why would you care?" she replied, coldly.  
  
"I don't know," he honestly replied.  
  
"Hmm," she snorted.  
  
She slurped her frappucino and when she finished it, she tossed the paper cup in the litter bin and missed. She walked up and she picked up the cup and tossed it in the trash. "Why do you even bother? Half the people in this god forsaken town litter anyway," Carter stated, bluntly.  
  
"Because I care about the environment! I don't know!" she yelled, angrily, storming off into a dark alley. She felt a pair of coarse hands grab her and she felt a coldness at her temple.  
  
"Put down the gun!" mediated Carter.  
  
"What do you know, asshole?!" yelled the man.  
  
"Put the gun down."  
  
The man refused, using several profane words. Carter kicked the gun out of his hand and grasped it the chance he got. He held the gun, in his quivering hands, poised at the man. "Now, you tell me why you're after Lucy and I won't shoot you."  
  
"Well, the reason I'm after your precious Lucy here is because I'm a hit man. Her father hired me to kill her," he admitted. "I'm leaving. Hey! I promise that I won't ever come after your chick again."  
  
Carter dropped the gun and walked over to Lucy. "Are you okay?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah. I think so."  
  
He walked with her back to the hospital. "Hey, Kerry! I'm going to the Y! See ya!" Lucy yelled, quickly, rushing out the door.  
  
"Wait!" she mumbled, but noticing that the automatic doors were shutting, she sighed unhappily and trudged back inside.  
  
Lucy hopped in her car. She had always been one to break rules, especially Dr. Carter's rules, but breaking Kerry's rules?! Was she nuts?! Well, she needed to relax and the only stress relief that came to her mind was swimming. She changed and she got into the warm, heated pool. She started swimming around. When she came up for air, she noticed the hit man from previously.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she spat.  
  
"To kill you."  
  
"I thought you", she mumbled, before her words slurred. He had struck her on the back of the head with a lead pipe before tossing it into the shallow end of the pool. She sank back into the water and blood leaked from her head. She had a large gash on her head.  
  
Carter hopped in his jeep. He was wondering if Lucy was attempting something crazy and idiotic. Like suicide. "Suicide? Lucy? No. But, she has been through a traumatic experience. God, let me get to her in time," he mumbled, while skittering in and out of Chicago traffic. He arrived at the Y to see her floating, face down, which was tentatively nicknamed, by children no less, dead man's float. He rushed into the pool and dragged her out. As he confirmed that she still had a pulse, he propped her up on poolside. The mysterious hit man had gone. He performed CPR from still inside the shallow end of the pool. As he walked up the step, his shoe slipped on the water, and he fell, his head hitting the lead pipe which had been carelessly tossed in. He fell into unconsciousness and he had a huge gash on his skull, which was bleeding profusely. 


	4. The Ending or the Beginning

Lucy coughed and tried to open her eyes. They felt shut tight. She struggled to open them and when she did, they watered like crazy. She coughed once more and got up. Her clothes were all drenched and her hair was dripping. She coughed and reached a hand into the pool and splashed some water on her eyes. She opened them with much strained difficulty. She sat up and breathed in deep breaths as she coughed up water.  
  
She glanced around the room. She saw bubbles rising from the shallow end of the pool. She got the strength and courage to force herself to step back into the pool and drag Carter out. He was unconscious then, and she gave him mouth-to-mouth. His eyes fluttered open and she pulled away as he coughed up water. She helped him to his feet and helped him walk over to the front door. He brought a small smile to his face. "I knew you liked me."  
  
She hailed a cab and helped Carter in before getting in herself. She told the driver where to go and as soon as she arrived, she forked over a small amount of cash and then she got out of the car, proceeding to drag Carter out. She helped him walk through the automatic doors leading to the ER.  
  
"I have several wounds on my head and I think Carter has some too," she mumbled. "So tired. Must sit down." Her knees buckled as she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.  
  
"Oh my God. Get Mark, Kerry, someone!" cried Chuny, worriedly, rushing over.  
  
As Dr. Weaver walked by, she noticed the hustle around something by the automatic doors. "Break it up. What's the?" she stopped dead in her words. "Get them on a gurney! Come on! It's not like you guys are interns or anything. Let's move!"  
  
They got Carter and Lucy on gurneys and they checked vital stats and checked their injuries. "Pupils are responsive. Ooh! I don't think that's major head trauma but it could be a slight one, what do you think?" Carol asked.  
  
"I think we should stop talking and start working," snapped Romano.  
  
Carol sighed exasperatedly as she saw Lucy's eyes flutter open. "She's conscious!" Carol remarked, happily. Lucy glanced around.  
  
"Carter," she whispered. "Is he ok?"  
  
"He will be."  
  
She sighed exasperatedly and closed her eyes to escape into her world. The world she loved. Her own make-believe world where pain never existed. She eventually drifted off into sleep and as she awoke, daylight arrived and Carter was awake and toying with his IV.  
  
"You're awake," he mumbled.  
  
"Yeah. I guess I am. Why?" she replied, chuckling.  
  
"Nothing. I guess."  
  
"Oh. Are you feeling better?" she inquired, worriedly.  
  
"Yeah. I'm fine. Hey. You saved me," he smiled.  
  
"You saved me first."  
  
"Is this gonna result in an argument?" he grinned.  
  
"I hope not."  
  
Lucy sank back onto her fluffed pillow and stared at her IV. "This IV feels weird," Carter complained, wriggling about.  
  
"Is that why you're playing with it?" she asked.  
  
"I want to take it out."  
  
"Go ahead. You know how to."  
  
"I know but I don't want Kerry to get all mad at me or anything."  
  
Lucy scoffed at the idea. Kerry? Mad? No. She laughed to herself. Why was she laughing? She was in a hospital room, connected to an IV, chatting with Carter. Geez, could this day get any more weird? Plus, he had saved her life on quite a few occasions.  
  
She heard the clacking of footsteps to see Kerry walking in along with Carol and some of the scattered ER staff. Some of their close friends who were worried about them. "Hey! Look. They're awake," stated Elizabeth.  
  
"Yes, we're awake," snapped Carter. "I'm glad you made such a brilliant observation."  
  
"Geez, what's got you in such a bad mood?" inquired Kerry, with a glare.  
  
"One guess," Lucy replied.  
  
"The IV," replied Carol, Mark, and Elizabeth, in unison.  
  
"Kerry, let me take it out!" he growled.  
  
Kerry nodded. He removed it and emitted a sigh of relief. "God that thing was starting to itch," Carter remarked.  
  
The scattered doctors and nurses laughed lightly. Lucy removed hers too. "Can we get changed and get back to work?" chirped Lucy.  
  
"Changed? Together?" Haleh suggestively stated. "Now, what am I thinking? Surely, I'm not thinking anything close to a rumor."  
  
"No, not together!" they scoffed. "Apart."  
  
"Maybe getting changed together will make you people realize the feelings you have for each other," Haleh answered.  
  
"Feelings? Hah!" they both scoffed again.  
  
The doctors shrugged their shoulders and headed out the door as Lucy started to change, she noticed Carter was looking at her funny. She walked into the bathroom and shut and locked the door. She started to change when she heard Carter mumble something. "What were you looking at anyway?!" she yelled, loudly.  
  
"Nothing. There's nothing to see!" he countered.  
  
She growled as she waltzed out of the bathroom wearing a simple tee- shirt and a pair of jeans. She shrugged on her lab coat and automatically wrapped the stethoscope around her neck. "God!" she mumbled. "Another day- to-day grind at County."  
  
"Hey. Be glad. You're not an actual doctor yet."  
  
She laughed it off and continued walking out of the room. She walked into the hallway where she got run over by a gurney. She grunted in pain. "You gotta watch where you're going, Luce," Carter replied as she fell backwards.  
  
"Thanks," she murmured.  
  
Before he could get another word out, she had stampeded down the hallway, probably to wreak her revenge on the careless attendant running down the hallway with a runaway gurney. Carter walked outside and breathed in the fresh air, before coughing on the pollution. Fresh air, indeed. Some fresh air. He walked across the street to Starbucks and ordered something. At 2:00 in the morning, there really was no line. He brought his coffee out with him and sat on the green bench. He sipped at his coffee voluntarily. He let it cool for a second. Even in the December weather, the coffee had still burned his tongue.  
  
He saw Lucy glance both ways before darting across the vacant street. He saw her walk, ever-so-casually, across the street and sipped at his coffee again. The metallic green Ford truck came out of an unnoticed alleyway and she stood there. Her feet looked glued to the cement and she looked like a deer in headlights as the truck approached. Carter tossed his coffee cup, with the cup three-quarters full, onto the sidewalk where it splattered noisily.  
  
He dived across the street and shoved her painfully out of the way. The truck's tires made a shrill screech, meaning it was an attempt to stop. But the drunk driver was quite the dazed and confused person. Just as it hit Carter, the truck came to a complete stop. Carter was thrown back twenty feet. He hit the back of a brick wall and his head scraped against the brick.  
  
"You idiot!" the driver swore. "You stained my new car!"  
  
Lucy gaped at him in shock. What a selfish man! Worrying about his car like this. "Do you know what you just did?" she asked, with spite in her voice.  
  
He turned his head to face her. "What?" he drawled.  
  
"You probably just killed one of the best doctors in Chicago and all you're worried about is your stupid truck!" she snapped, sobbing. She raced over to the brick wall where Carter had so noisily, and messily, slammed into. She darted across the street and asked for a gurney. When asked what for, she ignored them. She grabbed the gurney with an unprecedented force and she ran it across the street without giving a whim as to who or what would see her. She gingerly placed Carter on the gurney and with the extra adrenaline pumping throughout her veins, she brought him back to the ER in no time.  
  
"Oh my God. What happened to Carter?!" asked Mark, dropping something as he walked out of the Lounge.  
  
"He got run over by a truck. A drunk driver was tearing up asphalt back there. Afterwards, all he could complain about was his truck and the huge stain it had on it!" she explained, again.  
  
The nurses gaped at her in disbelief. "Okay. KERRY!" Mark hollered. "Stop chit-chatting for one second, nurses, and help me get him stabilized for crying out loud! He's in such critical condition because he was run over and you're gossiping or talking or whatever!"  
  
Kerry walked out of the restroom and walked over and all her annoyed glances changed into worried ones. "Carter?"  
  
"Yeah!" sniffed Mark. "Mind helping me rush him into the OR?!"  
  
Kerry snapped out of her trance. "Of course! Lucy! You want to come here and help him through it?"  
  
Mark and Lucy were both surprised by her forwardness. "Is he conscious?" Lucy asked.  
  
"Yeah. He's conscious. Give me the bullet," Kerry ordered.  
  
Chuny nodded gravely. She cleared her throat and started as they raced the gurney down the hall. "B/P 140/80. Breath sounds shallow. Pupils are responsive. ETA about 5 minutes ago. Head trauma. Rib fractures," she read the list slowly.  
  
"Is he breathing?" Kerry asked.  
  
"No," curtly replied Haleh.  
  
"Intubate him. Give him a 35 French," she barked.  
  
"36 would be better," Lucy quickly added.  
  
"35 won't fit!" Carol remarked.  
  
"Try 36!" Mark replied, agitated.  
  
"What do we need, boss?" asked Chuny, prepared to bolt out of the room.  
  
Kerry didn't bother to glance up. "Get me a", she hesitated. "Uh, get me a chest film, a CT, a dopamine drip, a Demerol IV push, 500 cc's of saline, and", Kerry stopped.  
  
"A CBC!" Mark finished for her.  
  
With a quick nod of the head, Chuny shot off. They got an ECG connected up to his heart and the rhythmic beeps from the large machine helped soothe Lucy's nerves for a while. The descending and alerting beeps brought doctors to swarm around the machine.  
  
"He's going into V-Fib, Mark!" cried Carol, worriedly.  
  
"Start compressions! Do what you'd normally do!" he shot back.  
  
She shut up and started doing what he stated. "Should we bag him?"  
  
"Whatever you want."  
  
"Okay. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5", she counted.  
  
"Charge to 200 joules," remarked Mark.  
  
"Charging," Lydia murmured.  
  
"Clear."  
  
The paddles shocked Carter's heart but it did little to change the rhythmic alerting beeps coming from the machine. "Should I?" Carol reiterated, pausing.  
  
"Go ahead!" he countered.  
  
She paused in silence and she kept coming with the compressions as all the nurses huddled in a circle and watched, except for Lydia, Carol, and Chuny, whom had just returned.  
  
"I got your Demerol IV Push!" she shouted, amid all the chaos. "I got your CT, your CBC, your everything!"  
  
"GREAT! Hand it to Kerry! Have her examine it!" Mark yelled, exasperatedly.  
  
Carol continued with the compressions as Lydia charged to 250. Mark shocked him again but nothing happened. Again, they charged to 300 before they got a steady heartbeat. They had gotten him stabilized, for the moment. Carol plopped down onto a chair and sighed. "You know, one day, I'm just not going to work here anymore. Transfer to cardio or something."  
  
"I doubt that," scoffed Elizabeth, walking in. "May I be of assistance?"  
  
"Yes. Read these", answered Mark, handing her the mess of X-ray sheets and such. "While I go have a nurse set up the IV pushes and crap."  
  
Elizabeth snorted and walked off. She waltzed into a room and placed the sheets on a fluorescent screen which showed the individual fractures that Carter had. He had two rib fractures and a large bloody mass at the back of his skull. Elizabeth called for Mark.  
  
"What is it?" he asked.  
  
"Look at this! He's got severe head trauma and he has two rib fractures along with everything else," she explained, her British accent clearly becoming visible as her forehead wrinkled with worry.  
  
"It'll be okay. We'll take good care of him. Hey! He lapsed out of unconsciousness today! He's talking too. That's got to be a good sign, right?" Mark remarked.  
  
"Hey. That's wonderful. Has Lucy gone to see him?" she asked. "May we go upstairs to see him as well?"  
  
"Yes, we can up. I'm not sure Lucy's awake. Let's go wake her up."  
  
They walked into the third story hospital room Carter was occupying. He was in ICU. Lucy was asleep on his arm. He was awake and glancing around. He shook his left arm suddenly. Lucy's eyes fluttered open. "You're awake!" she cried, happily, hugging him. "I can't believe you risked your life to save me."  
  
"I'd do anything for you."  
  
Lucy grinned and shook her head in denial. He sighed and sank his head back on the plumped pillow. It looked like it had been plumped a million times. He clutched his chest in pain and he sank back and groaned. The ECG slowly declined as Carter groaned in pain. "Help me, Mark," he rasped. They wheeled his bed out back to the OR and Lucy slowly ran after the gurney. As they stopped inside the nearest room, Carter was wincing in such pain that his face was in a grimace for quite a few minutes before his facial expression changed.  
  
"Lucy, I want you to know that I", he paused, clutching his heart again in pain. "I love you and that when I die."  
  
She interrupted him with a gasp. She was speechless. "You're not going to die," she whispered. "You're not. They won't let you."  
  
"Do you love me?" he asked, seriously.  
  
"Well, I", she paused.  
  
His face sank in disappointment and as he sank back on the fluffed pillows, he mumbled what could be distinguished as a good-bye and he closed his eyes. The flat line beeped in distress but it was already too late to save him. "Asystole. Call it."  
  
Lucy held her head in her hands as she wept. She noticed as a tear hit his cheek and she watched it fall down his cheek. She leaned in close and kissed his lips slowly and pulled away. "I love you too," she answered, finally.  
  
Sadly, she walked out of the room but as she walked out, she quickly grasped Mark's arm and pulled him into the room. "What?" he asked.  
  
"Listen."  
  
His eardrums perked up and could hear the faintest beeping. The sign of a heartbeat. "Elizabeth!" he cried. "Un-call it! He's got a heartbeat and a pulse!"  
  
This was definitely a good omen and definitely a good day for Lucy Knight. As she walked out into the hallway, she saw someone jumping for joy. The nurse handed Lucy an envelope. She opened it.  
  
"Dear Ms. Knight: We are happy to announce that you have been accepted for your residency and are no longer a medical student. Please speak to the administrators at your hospital about this residency. Attached is a note a doctor who is no longer available at your hospital wanted to give to you", she read, before pausing to switch letters. "Dear Lucy: Hey. It's Doug. You probably never met me. I'm the father of Carol's children. I'm in Seattle right now. I want to tell you that Carol's told me a lot about you. Even though I don't know you, I'm proud of you. I'm glad you chose to work at County. Hey, look at the bright side, at least you get to date Carter."  
  
She laughed a light-hearted laugh and set the letters back into the envelope and walked out of the hazardous location she was in and into the Lounge. She drank a cup of coffee and thought about Carter and the interesting (to say the least) relationship they would have. 


End file.
